Improvement in shaft-holding attachments



l. H. ADAMS.

t Shaft-Holding Attachments.

No.l47,465 '`y Patented Feb.17.1874.

UNITED STaTEs JOHN H. ADAMS, OF

ATE@

PORTLAND, MAINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 147,465, dated February17, 1874; application filed November 25, 1873.

To all whom 'it 'may concern.:

Be it known that I, J ol-IN H. ADAMS, of Portland, in the county ofCumberland and State of Maine, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Shaft-Holding Attachments; and I do hereby declare thatlthe following is a full, cle-ar, and exact description thereof, thatwill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and tothe letters of reference markedV thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Figures l and 2 are side views ot' my invention. Fig. 3 is a top plan ofFig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side view of a modiiication of Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 5is a top plan view of Fig. 4. Figs. (i, 7, and S are modifications.

Same letters show like parts. rIhe object of my invention is to producea simple device to be a-ttached to the cross-bar ofthe shafts of acarriage, which is so con.- structed as to work in combination withanother device which is fastened to the under side of the carriagebodyor to the carriagespring to hold the shafts in an elevated or raisedposition when desired. rIhesc devices are so arranged that when theycome together the one on the cross-bar of the shafts will strike the onethat is fastened to the carriage body or spring, and will force the bodydownward, or, in other words, contract the carriage'sprin g until aroller which is ou the device fastened to the crosswbar shall. havepassed or rolled over a projection on the one attached to the spring orbody of the carriage. The shafts of the carriage thus being raised willbe held in that position by the tendency ot' the carriagespring (whichit contracts, as before described,) to expand or spring upward.

My invention may be thus described: a shows the device .to be attachedto the under side of the cross-bar of `the shafts; b, another devicewhich works in a, consisting of a frame with two projecting arms1 c d,which hold a roller, e. b works through a downward-pro iecting part, f,shown in Fig. L. The object of this is to make thc roller c adjustable.It is so made adj ustable by means of the set-scrcw g, which fitsrecesses or indentations in the lower side of l1. The device (l, which Iattach to the under side of the carriagebody or to the spring of thecarriage, as may be desired, consists simply of a single piece of metalshown in Fig. l, having its outer end bent downward, as shown at h, andbeing provided with the projecting parts i' i, so as to make a recess,j. This is fastened to the carriage body or sprin in the same or similarmanner a-s the device ay is attached to the cross-bar of the shafts.

The operation may be thus described: The device a, which carries theframe I) and its accompanyin g devices, being fastened to the under sideof the .cross-bar, which connects the shafts of the carriage, and if itis desired to have the shafts or arms of the carriage held aloft, allthat is necessary to do is to raise the shafts to a sufficient height,when the roller e will strike the part l1., shown in Fig. l, (it beingunderstood, of course, that the device shown in Fig. 1 is fastened tothe carriage body or spring, as before described,) and as the shafts arecontinued to be raised this roller rolls up the bent end 71, and must ofa consequence force down or contract the spring of the carriage. Afterthe said shafts have been raised to a sufficient height to allow theroller e to pass over the projection and drop into the reccssj, theywill be held in this position by reason of the tendency of the spring toexpand or `sprin upward. rI he frame b is made to slide in the part j'of the frame a, and is held at any required pointby leans of theset-screw g, which, when bein g screwed up or tightened, forces its endinto a recess in the lower edge or side of b, and thus holds it, l),firmly in position. The object of having the frame b adjustable is toaccommodate the roller 0 to shafts that have cross-bars that vary indistance from the body or spring of the carriage.

Figs. a and 5 show another method of makn ing the roller e adjustable.It is apparent that this is but a modification of the means shown inFigs. 2 and The arms c l in this case, instead of coming together andforming a single arm, b, as in. Fig. 2, are separate and pass throughthe projecting part j' of the frame a., and are held in place by nuts lek, which nuts work on threads cut in the said arms c d.

Fig. S shows a similar method of making the device, which is attached tothe spring of the carriage adjustably. Fig. 7 is a side view of thelower portion of Fig. 8, and shows a space through which passes a clipor clasp that holds this device fastened to a carriagespring. l is apoint, which passes through an aperture in this clasp and serves to holdit securely.

It is evident that the frame b may be attached to the cross-bar, but inthis case it would not be adjustable-that is to say, they roller e wouldremain in one position and would be unadjustable.

If desired, a device similar to that shown in Fig. 6 may be used,instead of either of those shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5. This consistsyof a single piece of metal having the pro jecting part m and the leveror brace n. rIhis is to be fastened to the shafts in the same Inanner asthe devices herein named. The purpose of the lever n is to act as abrace and assist in dise-n gagin g the part m from the recess j when thearms or shafts of the carriage are elevated. Then the said shafts areheld aloft by this device and it is desired to lower the same ordisengage them a movement downward on said shafts brings the brace uagainst the part h, and thus a leverage is obtained, which allows thepart m to be easily raised out of the recess j.

It is evident that when the shafts of the carriage are held elevated byeither of these devices a slight pull downward will free the same.

I do not limit myself to any material for the roller e, but wouldspecify that rubber, guttapercha, or other equivalent substance can beused to advantage. It is obvious that the weight of the shafts willserve to hold them in a raised position after the roller e has passedinto the recess j, but, of course, the acaction of the carriage-springwould greatly assist. It is evident that these devices can, by a simplearrangement, be attached to a sleigh, so that by having a suitablespring fastened to the sleigh in the proper place I can effect the sameresult as is derived when they are applied to a carriage.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

, 1. The combination of the part h with a carriage-spring, for thepurpose of utilizing the expansion of the spring to support the shaftswhen in an elevated position, as set forth.

2. The combination of the frame a, setscrew g, frame b having the arms cd, and roller c, with the device a., having the projections i i, recessj, and bent portion h, when applied to a carriage, as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this20th day of November, 18723.

JCHN H. ADAMS.

Witnesses: 4

WM. HENRY CLIFFORD, FRANK H. JORDAN.

